Al-Hilal join Chelsea in the race for AC Milan star Rafael Leao
Mauricio Pochettino has stressed Chelsea’s poor set-piece record and claimed the club needs to look for a set-piece specialist in the summer window. the former Southampton coach wants to have a player who can guarantee the club goals from dead-ball situations.
The Blues recorded only five Premier League goals from set-pieces in the current campaign, excluding penalties, and are already behind 11 clubs in a dead-ball situation. The Blues had many dead ball masters, such as Willian, Marcos Alonso and Mason Mount, before Todd Bohely took over ownership and revamped the squad.
The Blues are also behind Wolves in dead-ball goals this season, and Pochettino feels that is the area where the club needs to improve. The Argentine manager was asked if this is the one position where the Blues should look into, (h/t Evening Standard), and the head coach said:
“We work a lot on set pieces. We have specialists. We are a coaching staff in charge of everything. We have a group of analysts for set pieces.”
“After that, it is about the quality of the player. It is about the takers. We don’t have a specialist. Maybe Chilly [Ben Chilwell] is good in the delivery, but we don’t have a specialist after that.”
These days, having a dead ball expert is crucial, and we lack an elite player who can ensure goals from set pieces. Raheem Sterling has netted two goals off dead balls, but that is insufficient; we must consistently score in those circumstances in order to have a chance to win when it matters most.
But, as dead ball specialists, we have Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku and Sterling, who are dangerous in those situations and if they work on this in training, there may be hope for them when we have set-piece opportunities to score. They possess expertise and will come in handy later on.
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